What the Discovery of the Last American Slave Ship Means to Descendants, National Geographic

In this short film, the descendants of Africans on the last known American slave ship, Clotilda, describe what it would mean to discover and document the wreck site of the vessel. Their enslaved ancestors were smuggled into Alabama in 1860, long after the United States had banned the import of slaves. The smugglers burned the ship to hide their crime, and for more than 150 years, the ship s remains lay on the bottom of the Mobile River. The community of Africatown, founded by slaves brought by the Clotilda, grew up nearby.